Jeffs Rally to Defeat Wesleyan, 14-10

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Amherst College men’s lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal deficit in the first quarter to defeat Little Three rival Wesleyan University on the road Wednesday night, 14-10.

With the win, the Jeffs improved to 7-2 overall and 3-2 in NESCAC play, while snapping Wesleyan’s three-game winning streak and unbeaten mark in league play. It was also the first win for Amherst at Wesleyan since the 1998 season, snapping a seven-game road losing streak. The Cardinals fall to 7-3 on the year and 4-1 in conference action.

Three Jeffs scored three goals in the win. Seniors Devin Acton and Aaron Mathias recorded three scores with two assists each and Action added two groundballs. Kane Haffey ’16 joined them with three goals while five others tallied one each. Johno Gibbons ’15 and Rob Butko ’16 led the team in groundballs with five a piece and Quinn Moroney ’16 had a game-high three assists.

Wesleyan was led by Quentin DellaFera ’15 with three goals while Matt Prezioso ’15 and Lyle Mitchell ’16 both netted two. Prezioso added two assists and was joined by Aidan Daniell ’14 with two as well. Sam Stanton ’14 led all players with six groundballs.

The Cardinals scored the first goal of the game at the 11:39 mark in the first quarter and tacked on three straight within the following nine minutes to take an early 4-0 lead. However, Acton scored with three seconds remaining in the first to put the momentum in Amherst’s favor entering the second quarter.

The next 15 minutes were all Purple & White. Matt Killian ’17 cut the deficit to two within the first minute and Mathias scored just 50 seconds later. Amherst wasn’t finished scoring and netted three more before the break as they took a 6-4 lead at halftime.

The third quarter featured a bevy of goals. Graham Macnab ’14 tallied the first of many at the 14:23 mark to cut the deficit to one. The Jeffs retaliated just over a minute later when Patrick Moroney ’14 tacked on another Amherst score. The scoring went back and forth as the Cardinals finished with a 5-4 advantage in the quarter and trailed 10-9 entering the fourth.

Amherst scored twice within the first five minutes of the last quarter and outscored the Cardinals 4-1 in the final 15 minutes of regulation to pull away with the win.

Greg Majno ’14 was terrific in net for the Jeffs. The senior saved 16 total shots in the win. Mark Simmons ’14 was credited with the loss and made five saves in 46:15 minutes.

Amherst is back in action Saturday, Apr. 5 for a 1 p.m. home game against NESCAC rival Colby.